Washington State coach Mike Price agreed on Dec. 17 to take the head coaching job at Alabama, and I have never heard of a coach accepting another job but staying on to coach in a premier game like the Rose Bowl.

You have to wonder if the WSU players will rally around Price and send him off to Tuscaloosa with a win, or if they will have mixed emotions about playing for their "old coach". Under normal circumstances this situation could backfire, but Price has an outstanding relationship with the players there and they will likely want to see him off with a victory.

	Jason Gesser and his teammates will have to overcome distractions in the Rose Bowl.

Mike Price made Washington State. He brought national prominence to a school that was at one time has just another football program, and because of the way this situation was handled there won't be a lot of animosity toward him.

But there is a question about how this affects the Cougars' preparation for the game against Oklahoma because Price has to put together a staff at Alabama and get things in order there in the recruiting game, but Price would not have stayed on at Wazzu if he were just going to be a figurehead.

He will be as involved in this gameplan as he has been in any other game, and he will probably assemble a staff at Alabama and let it handle everything until he is free on Jan. 2.

As far as the actual game goes, the experiences OU had in losses against Oklahoma State and Texas A&M will be a learning tool for this game. The Sooners will be able to go back and look at the mental breakdowns in the secondary in those upsets and that will prepare them to react accordingly if they see similar schemes from WSU.

Deep balls and breakdowns in the secondary hurt Oklahoma them in those games, but its defense dominated for most of the four quarters in each loss. The Sooners would be great for about 15 plays and then have a break down and give up a huge touchdown pass.

What co-defensive coordinators Mike Stoops and Brent Venables are going to focus on is continuing to play aggressive, lights-out defense but avoiding the miscues in the back end.

Both OSU and A&M had receivers with the ability to get down the field, and Wazzu may have the deepest group of receivers OU has seen this year. It is going to be a big-time challenge for Oklahoma to play consistently against that unit because Washington State quarterback Jason Gesser is a difference-maker.

He is a mentally tough player who is physically talented and will be fully healed from a high ankle sprain suffered against Washington. In a game like this, after such a long layoff, its always nice to have an experienced QB who is willing to take some chances.

Washington State's defense, on the other hand, is very under-appreciated. The defensive line has good size, good athletic ability and Outland Trophy winner Rein Long, and the linebacking corps is solid.

Freshman Wil Derting is one of the more promising linebackers in the Pac-10 and showed his toughness all year while battling through injuries and still being one of the better young linebackers in the league. And Jason David and Marcus Trufant may be the best cornerback tandem in the Pac-10.

The Cougars have the ability to make the opponent earn every yard it gets, but the big thing for WSU will be containing Quentin Griffin, Kejuan Jones and the OU running game. Oklahoma has re-invented its rushing attack this year, and if the Cougars are going to stay in the game they will have to contain Griffin and Jones, get OU in obvious passing situations and make quarterback Nate Hybl make plays throwing the ball.

If that happens, Washington State's defense has the ability to pressure Hybl, who has at times shown the ability to make great throws and outstanding decisions but at other times he has made decisions he would love to have back. He has been inconsistent, but if he is on his game Hybl can definitely make some plays in this game.

There haven't been too many games this year when he has been on for four quarters, though, and if teams get pressure on him he is prone to throwing the ball into traffic and making mistakes. But the Sooners have not been in a situation this season in which the running game has been totally taken away and they have been forced to throw to win. That is what Wazzu is hoping to do.

The turmoil surrounding Mike Price's departure will play a big part in this game and will test the mental fortitude of WSU. Because of that potential distraction and because OU's defense gives it an edge in matchups, I look for this to be a hard-fought game with Oklahoma winning a close one.

Kirk Herbstreit is an analyst on ESPN's College GameDay